The Window
by Bridget Shannon Erin Malfoy
Summary: How he hated God at this moment. How could he take his little girl? A one shot about Remus Lupin's last moments with his daughter.


Bridget looked out her window at the falling rain as she lay in bed. Today was definitely not one of her better days. The sickness was definitely taking its toll. She continued to stare out the window. No one would say it, but she knew it. She was dying. The cancer had spread through her body like a wildfire in a dry forest. The blonde coughed and looked over at Draco Malfoy, her boyfriend who was sleeping in a chair not far from her bed. The cancer had really affected him, maybe even more so than anyone else. He had been there through it all, from the diagnosis through the painful treatments to the news that she had one month to live. Draco never showed it, but he was scared. He was scared to be without her. What he didn't know was that it was even scarier for her to think about being without him.

There was a knock at the door. It startled Draco. Bridget smiled at him and the blonde returned the smile. Bridget loved to see him smile. She had seen so few of them these days and savoured every one.

"Come in," Bridget beckoned; the door creaked open to reveal Remus Lupin, Bridget's father standing at the door.

"I think I'm going to go stretch my legs," Draco said as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Okay," Bridget smiled at him. Draco gave her father a small smile and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey." He greeted as he sat down in the chair that was previously occupied by Draco.

"Hi," Bridget sighed as she turned her attention to him.

"How are you feeling today?" Remus asked awkwardly, not sure exactly what to say to his dying daughter. He looked into her eyes. Despite the look of tiredness and the dark circles that now occupied around her eyes, they still reminded him so much of her mother's.

"I feel good," Bridget lied, not wanting to tell him that with each passing day, holding her head up became a little bit harder, more of a chore than second nature.

"I'm glad," the man replied, "I see Narcissa brought you more flowers."

Bridget chuckled, "Yeah. I like them. They remind me of outside. I miss going outside." Bridget paused and sighed, "She never seems to forget that my favourite flowers are yellow roses."

Remus nodded, "They're very pretty." The two fell into an awkward silence. Both knew that one thing needed to be said, but neither one of them were sure how to say it.

"Dad," she called, breaking the silence, "Do you ever regret what you did with Mom?"

The question was so unexpected, it startled him. He sighed and looked into his daughter's tired blue eyes, "No."

"Why not?" Bridget asked, "It was wrong. You knew that she was married, it was wrong."

"If I hadn't," he responded slowly, trying to hold back tears, "I wouldn't have had you or your sister. You two are everything to me. I see so much of her in you two. It's almost like having her back with me. You more so than Hermione. You're so much like her Bridget." He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, "Everything about you, your smile, your eyes, and your voice." He smiled in spite of himself, "Especially with your voice."

Bridget smiled, "I miss her singing."

Remus nodded, "She had a beautiful voice. As do you." The two fell into silence again. What needed to be said had not been spoken and Bridget could feel herself begin to slip away.

"Dad," she started as she began to cry, "I love you and I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I didn't mean to. If . . . if I had known that I didn't have much time."

"Don't say it," he answered, "I know, I know you're sorry, and I know you didn't mean it. I love you Bridget, more than you'll ever know." He embraced her as the tears began to fall freely from his eyes. How he hated God at this moment. How could he take his little girl? _Don't do this to me_, he prayed, _not again. Don't take her from me. _

Bridget could feel him shaking from crying. _I can't let him see that I'm scared,_ the girl decided, _I have to be strong for him, even if this is the end_.

"Dad," she said as she broke apart from the embrace reluctantly, "I'm tired, but would you stay here with me?"

He wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded, "Of course I will Bridget. I love you."

"I love you too Dad." Bridget smiled at him as she lay back down and took his hand. He held on tightly, as if holding on to her hand would make her stay, but he knew it wouldn't. He knew that his little girl, who he had found a little too late, was slipping farther and farther away from him and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. She smiled at him one last time before she closed her eyes. Her grip on his hand was loosening and he knew that she was leaving him forever. The last breath escaped her as the sun began to shine through the windows. She was gone; Remus could only hope that her mother was there to embrace her when she entered the gates of Heaven.


End file.
